If you ever listened to the up and comers in the Glam Rock scene back in the day there is no doubt that you had heard the name of Lillian Axe a couple of times but then again perhaps I am wrong. I say this because when it came down to it, the band was probably one of the best kept secrets that the genre ever introduced and this is quite the shame based on the quality level of songwriting and music that they actually brought to the table. The band was led by singer Ron Taylor and guitarist Steve Blaze and they seemed the perfect pairing when it came to the nature of the material that such a band offered up to their fan base. Their debut, and self titled release was recently remastered by the folks at Metal Mind Productions and this is a gem to find for ones Glam Rock collection because there isn't a bad tune on the album. Produced by Robbin Crosby (who was at the time a member of Ratt), the band had a lot of promise with catchy tunes like "Dream Of A Lifetime" – a song that would be considered one of the bands biggest hits among their growing underground following, and of course there was a little more depth to them than your conventional "Hair Metal" troupe. Songs like "Hard Luck" showed a heavier side and featured a crunch to its driving riff along with some ripping guitar solos from Blaze who truly stood higher than his peers but never got the true chance to be considered competition based on the shifting tides that would find the band almost fading from the media eye of the time. They had the expected ballad in "Nobody Knows", and it's a track to raise your lighter to and there was fun stuff like the closer "Laughing In Your Face" and sing along numbers like "Picture Perfect", but sadly the proper attention was just not given them. I guess such a thing was bound to happen with this being the tail end of the Glam Rock domination of the scene and the pending rise of the Grunge Movement. Less attention was given to bands that were considered to be too much of the same thing and then it was all gloom and sorrow from Seattle. It didn't matter if the group was different or not, it was all the perception at this stage. A shame really, because while I myself only lightly experienced them in their heyday, can agree that this album was a strong debut and should have done a lot more for the group and the ebbing fires of this genres music scene.
The band was rounded out by John Ster (rhythm guitar), Rob Stratton (bass) and Danny King (drums) and all of them do proper good on the recording which sounds fantastic in its remastered form. There is nothing over the top technical about the band, as this was not common for groups of this type, and the rhythms are very simply stated but all members seem to offer up some backing vocals and these make the choruses really big and I enjoyed that. There is a booklet enclosed that gives you the lyrics to all the catchy numbers and even offers up some historical liner notes about the bands beginnings and current incarnation. In today's music world the band performs with Steve Blaze as the only original member and they are signed to Motor City Records. If the long gone days of Glam Rock of the eighties is something that you pine for or you consider yourself a historian of the genre as a new student of that decades Metal, then be sure to check out this quality re-issue while you can still find it. I felt that they were a band you could enjoy if you listened to Ratt or Dokken more than a Poison or Bulletboys, so use that as an example if you needed one. Metal Mind Productions also released the bands follow up Love & War and this allows you to be up to speed pretty easily. Thanks Metal Mind, we would probably have never seen this be remastered had you not taken the plunge.
Track Listing:
- Dream Of A Lifetime
- Inside Out
- Vision In The Night
- Picture Perfect
- The More Than You Get
- Misery Loves Company
- Nobody Knows
- Hard Luck
- Waiting In The Dark
- Laughing In Your Face
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